In the games

Anabel's heard rumors of Brendan/May's rankings in the Battle Tower, but isn't impressed. She wants to see their talent in battle for herself. When defeated, she awards the Ability Symbol onto the Frontier Pass.

On the second match, Anabel commends Brendan/May's progress, and is grateful for the chance to battle without holding anything back; to battle to her fullest.

Quotes

Initial battle

Before battle

"Greetings... My name is Anabel. I am the Salon Maiden, and I am in charge of running the Battle Tower... I have heard several rumors about you... In all honesty, what I have heard does not seem attractive in any way... The reason I’ve come to see you... Well, there is but one reason... Let me see your talent in its entirety..."

"... ... ... ... ... ... You have confidence in your Pokémon battling talent, don’t you? I urge you to keep battling and keep on winning. I will be waiting for you. Until the next time we meet..."

Rematch

Before battle

"You really did come back to see me... ... ... ... ... ... ... You’ve won straight matches to see me... I won’t have to hold back against you... It’s been too long now... Too long since I’ve been able to battle without thinking about anything... Let’s begin, shall we?"

When defeated

"Thank you..."

After being defeated

"Fufu, congratulations... Your Frontier Pass, please... That was fun... I have never had a Pokémon battle so enjoyable before... I wish I could battle with you again..."

In the anime

Anabel has the empathic ability to sense the emotions of living beings and communicating with them, ever since she was little, possessing powers similar to Yellow of Pokémon Adventures, although other characters do not seem to regard these as psychic abilities but rather a honed sense of empathy. Nevertheless, she is still portrayed as a sort of Psychic-type specialist. She also shares a strong bond with her Pokémon, calling them my friend upon sending them out. She failed to teach Ash and May her empathetic abilities, as their Pokémon receive nothing from them.

Ash and his friends were surprised to learn that Anabel is a girl; when the group arrived at her house, she declined to change her wet clothes in front of them. Ash asked if it was because of May's presence, but Anabel explained that it was because she's female.

Ash lost his first match to Anabel after her powerful Alakazam managed to defeat two of his Pokémon consecutively, shadowing both Ash's Corphish and Tauros. In a rematch, Ash beat her by using the same strategy as in the previous battle. During their farewell, Anabel was shown to have a crush on Ash.

Pokémon

Anabel first called on Alakazam in Talking a Good Game! to help her and Ash when they were attacked by Team Rocket. Alakazam was able to beat them with its powerful Psychic attacks. Ash then realized that Anabel was a Frontier Brain and that he would have to battle Alakazam. Ash chose Corphish for the match. Anabel had the ability to telepathically communicate with her Pokémon and give commands without saying a word. In the end, Alakazam easily defeated Corphish. Alakazam then went on to defeat Ash's Tauros before finally being defeated by his Pikachu, but not before weakening it.

In Second Time's the Charm!, Ash had a rematch with Anabel. Again, she chose Alakazam as her first Pokémon. It went head to head again with Ash's Corphish once again, but this time with a little bit of luck as well as Ash's quick thinking, Alakazam was defeated by Corphish's BubbleBeam.

Metagross was for the first time seen during Ash's first match against her, where it easily defeated Ash's Pikachu, losing the match for Ash. During Ash's rematch against Anabel, Metagross easily defeated Ash's Corphish, but the Iron Leg Pokémon finally tied with his Tauros, as its Meteor Mash collided with Tauros's Take Down.

Espeon, Anabel's favorite Pokémon, was seen during Ash's rematch against her, where it battled against Ash's Pikachu. Even though Espeon at first managed to overwhelm Pikachu with its speed and power, one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts put the lights off, making it impossible for both Anabel and Espeon to see where the next attack was coming from. This cost some critical hits for Espeon, and Pikachu was finally able to defeat the Sun Pokémon with a Volt Tackle, winning the match for Ash and earning him the Ability Symbol.

Voice actors

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Anabel in Pokémon Adventures

Anabel is the most powerful Frontier Brain, and the leader of the group. Her trademark Pokémon is Raikou, which she managed to catch on a trip to Johto shortly before the events of the Emerald chapter.

Anabel directs the resistance to Guile Hideout's attack, but falls victim to one of his traps, allowing him control over the Battle Tower. Emerald tries to scale the Tower and stop the villain, but is forced to battle his way to the top because, despite the emergency, the Tower's automated Trainer system remains active.

Emerald succeeds, but meets a horrifying sight at the top - Anabel, brainwashed and under Guile Hideout's complete control. She brutally crushes him in a battle and then attempts to kill him until he is rescued by Sapphire and Ruby. Eventually, her body is unable to handle the strain of being put under psychic control for so long and she collapses.

Having lost control of Anabel, Guile Hideout appears and threatens to kill her unless Noland hands out the information he demands on Jirachi. Noland reluctantly agrees in order to save Anabel's life. As Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire battle Guile Hideout to save Jirachi, Noland and an unconscious Anabel are taken from the Tower by one of Emerald's Pokémon.

After everything is resolved, she makes her last appearance handing out the Ability Symbol to Emerald for his deeds and the fact that he wanted to fight her fairly.

Pokémon

Raikou

Anabel recaught this Raikou after it was released following the battle against the Masked Man. She is said to have captured this legendary Pokémon during her trip somewhere in Johto. Raikou has been with her since then and she continues to rely on it for all of her battles. Because it carries a large thundercloud on its back, it both allows a handier usage of its trademark Thunder as well as strengthen it. After Guile Hideout had been defeated, it was seen interacting with Gold, who previously partnered up with it years prior.

In the Pokémon Battle Frontier manga

Anabel

Anabel first appears in chapter 4, disguised as a photographer. She takes a picture of Enta's Vulpix and Feebas. She tells Enta about the Frontier Brains after Rald is defeated by her, prompting him to challenge them in order to discover which one defeated Rald. After Enta defeats his sixth Frontier Brain, Lucy, he is told that the seventh one is none other than Anabel herself, much to his surprise. Enta's battle with Anabel ends up in a draw after a showdown between Ninetales and Entei.

Pokémon

Entei

Entei was the first revealed Pokémon. It was the final Pokémon that went up against Enta after both sides were down to one Pokémon. It battled Ninetales and managed to dodge many of its attacks. In the end, despite putting up a great fight, it ended up defeating Ninetales and got knocked out in the process.

Snorlax was the second opponent that battled Enta. Snorlax battled Milotic after Milotic defeated Alakazam. Due to Milotic's previous opponent, Snorlax was able to take it out with Body Slam. Snorlax then battled Ninetales and was easily defeated by Ninetales's Hyper Beam.

Trivia

Right after Pokémon Emerald was released, there was some debate regarding Anabel's gender. However, after the publishing of her Sugimori artwork and her anime and manga appearances, there was no doubt that she was female. The initial confusion was only increased because she uses the typically masculine personal pronoun ボク boku.

It is possible that her design is based on the female Psychic. This theory is further supported by the fact that Anabel uses all Psychic-type Pokémon in the anime.

Anabel is the only Frontier Brain whose title (in some languages) does not incorporate the second word of his or her facility's name. However, the Battle Salon is an actual room in a Battle Tower where Trainers can meet each other and team up to participate in Multi Battles.

In the anime episode wherein she made her debut, Anabel was mentioned to be the head of the Battle Tower's Battle Salon.